Water scarcity is of growing concern in many parts of the world. Population growth, urbanization, increased demands in irrigated agriculture and inadequate water management are important determinants of water scarcity, accelerated by the effects of climate change which result in an increase in the frequency and intensity of droughts. Today, already about 2 billion people are living in water stressed areas. By 2025, half of the world’s population is expected to do so.
The workshop aimed to accelerate actions to address water scarcity and thereby reduce the related health, social, economic and environmental risks, by sharing practical solutions, in particular from the perspective of transboundary water cooperation and health impacts. It reviewed measures to prevent scarcity and mitigate its consequences taken in transboundary basins and at national level, identified good practices and lessons learned and formulated some conclusions for further activities.
The workshop brought together water practitioners, health professionals, representatives of water-using sectors and authorities responsible for addressing climate change impacts, at the national and transboundary levels, representatives of bilateral and multilateral donors, financing institutions and the private sector.
The workshop was organized under the leadership of the Governments of Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland, with the support of the Water Convention secretariat and its Protocol on Water and Health, serviced by UNECE and WHO-Europe. It was followed by the 9th meeting of the Task Force on Water and Climate (13 December 2017).
The workshop was organized in cooperation with the International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and in particular the Integrated Drought Management Programme (IDMP) by GWP and WMO, the Global Environment Facility’s International Learning and Exchange Network (iw:learn), the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations as well as UNECE and WHO-Europe:
Please click here for the news article regarding the workshop.